Human Vision is an information-processing task. The human eyes are capable of looking at what is where but the brain processes and generates a representation of this information in its profusion of color, form, motion and detail. The central vision (center of our retina) has the highest visual acuity and discriminative vision. Visual acuity decreases with distance from the fovea (the center of the retina) to the periphery. The combined field of view of our both eyes is approximately 180° with a 120° area of overlap (FIG. 7). In general, the periphery is a larger low resolution field and the central is a smaller high resolution field.
The central area or fovea subtends only for 2.5° of our visual field but our head movements coupled with rapid eye saccadic eye movements gives the impression that the combined field of view has a resolution similar to that of the foveal resolution (high resolution). The fovea uses also these saccadic eye movements to acquire peripheral targets. A large web page, fixated at its center, creates the illusion of being equally legible all over. It is only when we maintain our focus at the center of the web page and do not shift our eyes to the edge that we realize that the periphery is illegible. Our goal is to increase and maintain the quality of this large high resolution visual field by improving identification task of the peripheral (e.g., para-central) vision.
In one embodiment of the present invention, a vision-improving gaming system suitable for improving peripheral vision of a subject using a visual marker on a display screen during a gaming session is provided. The gaming system includes a vision improvement module coupled to a visual marker module, the vision improvement module being operable to provide a peripheral target for display on the display screen in the gaming session, the peripheral target having a visually discernible characteristic. The peripheral target is intended for identification using the peripheral vision of the subject. In the gaming session, the subject attempts to identify the peripheral target. The gaming system also includes a performance assessment module coupled to an input detector module, the performance assessment module being operable to determine whether the subject is able to identify the peripheral target displayed on the display screen using the peripheral vision.
The gaming system may include a visual marker module, the visual marker module being operable to generate the visual marker and to change the appearance of the visual marker. The visual marker is intended for viewing using central vision of the subject.
The gaming system may include an input detector module coupled to the vision improvement module, the input detector module being operable to detect input of the subject in attempts to identify the peripheral target.
The gaming system may include an image capture unit operable to capture an image or video of the subject's eyes to detect deviation of the central vision from the visual marker.
The performance assessment module may be further operable to determine whether the subject is able to correctly identify the visually discernible characteristic of the peripheral target, and to generate performance data of the subject based on whether the subject is able to correctly identify the peripheral target. The performance assessment module may be coupled to the image capture unit, and further operable to assess whether the subject is able to correctly identify the change in the appearance of the visual marker to ensure that the peripheral target is identified by the subject using the peripheral vision.
The gaming system may include a communication unit coupled to the performance assessment module, the communication unit being operable to wirelessly transmit the performance data of the subject.
The display screen may be a computer display, a TV screen, a display of a head mounted unit, or the screen of a portable device.